Happy Monday, hope you all had a great weekend, I sure did.
I have been looking for a granola recipe for years that doesn't have a bunch of ingredients I don't have on hand, and one that I can add what I like. I found this great recipe in Heart & Soul Magazine. It is perfect, you can make it to suit your taste exactly, I love that. I happen to like crunchy, on the sweeter side, (of course) with lots of fruits & nuts walnuts especially. This would make a good breakfast food, use it to make cookies, and a perfect snack for kids & adults. When you are stirring it, if you like little lumps (I do) kinda of make them as it's cooking. Add a little more sweetener if you want, I'm using a blend of molasses and agave.
Enjoy and Cook On.............
This do-it-yourself mix can be customized with whatever nuts, seeds and dried fruit sound good to you.
Ingredients
6 cups Old Fashion Oats
1 1/2 cup nuts, such as almonds, pistachios, walnuts etc., coarsely chopped
1/4 cup seeds, such as sunflower, pepitas, etc
1/3 cup flaxseed meal, wheat germ, or a mixture of the two
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3 large egg whites
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 cup sweetener, such as honey, agave syrup or molasses
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dried fruit, such as sour cherries, cranberries, currants, raisins, apricots, fig or pineapple, coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350
Combine the oats, nuts, seeds, flax and/or wheat germ, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and eh salt until frothy. Whisk in the sweetener and the olive oil. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and stir until the oats are evenly coated.
Transfer mixture to two rimmed baking sheets and spread flat.
Bake for 20 minutes, then gently flip with a spatula, moving granola from the outer edges to the center of the sheet. Continue to cook until golden, about 10 minutes more (if the granola starts to brown too much at the edges, gently stir these parts into the middle).
Cool completely on pan, then transfer to a bowl and gently stir in the dried fruit.
Nutritional Info per servings: 190 Calories 8 g fat I’m going to assume a serving is 1/2 cup.
Tips & Variations
Chunky: If you prefer a loose granola, simply stir instead of flipping during cooking.
Vegan: Leave out the egg whites. The granola won’t be quite as crunchy, but it will still be very tasty.
Freeze It: Finished batches can be frozen in an airtight container for up to three months.
Sweet & Tart: Use pistachios and sunflower seeds in the base. After baking, stir in died cherries and 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut.
Crunchy: Use sliced almonds and pepitas in the base. Stir in 1/2 up crispy rice cereal and dried currants after baking.
Tropical: Use macadamia nuts in the base an 3/4 teaspoon dried ginger. Add molasses as the sweetener. After baking stir in 3/4 cup pi maple, 1/4 cup ginger, and 1/2 cup coconut.
